Describes ways that both parents and teachers can instill a love of reading in children. (FL)

Discusses research on home literacy environments, the values of reading aloud, independent reading, literature and writing, and literature in the language arts curriculum. (RS)

Extracted from a doctoral thesis on young children's emergent literacy, this paper describes the literacy development of one five-year-old subject. The paper first describes the subject's home environment, her relationships with family members, and her early reading experience and literacy development. Transcripts illustrating her home reading…

Enumerates ways to help early readers without negatively affecting their development in other areas, such as: (l) providing an atmosphere rich in environment print and positive role models, (2) using encouragement rather than praise as a means of reinforcing their progress, (3) exhibiting respect for the child, (4) eliminating criticism and…

Describes ways in which teachers in a preschool center structure the environment and provide supportive interactions that give children in their care, the same advantages found in homes of early readers. Summarizes how the center replicates characteristics of such homes. Suggests involvement with books and other print-related materials. (BAC)

Some children become capable readers and writers before ever attending school and without exposure to formal instruction. This phenomenon--sometimes referred to as natural literacy development--is not, in the strictest sense, natural; as the adult presents much of the literacy environment to the child in a socialized, mediated form, teaching is…

Focusing on the not-yet-conventional ways in which young children write and read--their nature, contexts, and significance for continuing literacy development, this book presents the perspective that children's early reading and writing behaviors are not pre- anything, but are integral parts of an incipient language process. Following an…